BARNESVILLE — Locust Lake and Tuscarora State Parks are popular places to be in the summer.
“I’ve been coming here for years,” JoAnn McCarthy, 81, of Mahanoy City, said as she worked on her tan while sitting by the water at Locust Lake State Park on May 27.
She said she likes the quiet atmosphere the area provides. She was there for the day and planned to come back the next day.
Rick Dalton, park manager of both Locust Lake and Tuscarora, said walking, hiking or doing any number of leisure activities are a good way to see the beauty of the parks.
“Come out and have a great time,” he said.
The parks were busy Memorial Day weekend with visitors. He said a lot of people were camping that weekend.
“We have 282 campsites,” at Locust Lake, he said, adding a large majority of the campground was filled to capacity for the holiday weekend.
Holidays are a popular time for reservations, he said. He didn’t know if there were any spots left for the upcoming holidays like July 4 and Labor Day, Sept. 5.
Tents and camping trailers are permitted on specified areas at Locust Lake. Reservations for both state parks can be made 11 months prior to the requested camping date.
As of Saturday, about 100 of the campsites at Locust Lake were occupied.
“A lot of it is weather dependent,” Dalton said Saturday.
At Tuscarora, visitors can rent camping cottages or yurts. Each of the six cottages has room for five people. The yurts, a canvas and wood-walled tent, can accommodate five visitors. Each has accommodations, such as electricity. Dalton said both the cottages and the yurts were full Memorial Day weekend.
Bryan Strahan, 36, and his wife, Tiffany, 36, and their daughters, Taylor, 9, and Brynn, 5, all of Harrisburg, camped at Locust Lake during Memorial Day weekend and into Memorial Day. Bryan said they have been coming to the park for five years to spend time with other family members, about 15 in all. They had four campsites to park their campers. Tiffany said she grew up going camping.
Lance Miller, Treverton, said the park is very friendly toward the campers.
“We always go for a walk. The trail around the lake is nice. This is really a nice facility,” he said of Locust Lake.
Down at Locust Lake’s beach, some people played in the water, while others were on the lake in paddle boats.
Vanessa Setlock, 31, of Saint Clair, said the area is ideal to come to.
“It’s peaceful. It’s quiet. It’s relaxing,” she said.
While the parks are full of wild animals that may look cute, Dalton said they should not be touched.
“The best thing to do is to leave it alone,” he said, adding it is against regulations to take them from the parks.
“We certainly could write a citation,” he said, but they try to educate the public.
At Tuscarora State Park, the water was also inviting for visitors.
Roman Kurtz, 49, of Beaver Meadows, Carbon County, took his 12-foot boat out on the water to fish May 27. He planned to go night fishing.
“I just like to get out and enjoy the quiet,” he said.
Dalton said there is not a lot of new things at the park this year but the familiar can be welcome.
“The only thing new at the park is me,” he said May 27.
Dalton started as park manager in the middle of March after the former park manager Lew Williams retired. Dalton said he always has loved the outdoors.
“As I was growing up, I spent a lot of time in the hills in Shenandoah,” he said.
Originally from Shenandoah, he has been with state parks in Pennsylvania for 16 years He is a 1980 graduate of Penn State University, University Park, with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in recreation and parks. He was at the Delaware Canal State Park in Northampton and Bucks counties for 14 years and with the Tyler State Park, Bucks County, for two years before coming back to Schuylkill County. In 1980, he was a summer park ranger at both state parks.
“The staff has been great,” he said.
For more information about either park, call 570-467-2404. Locust Lake State Park is located at 220 Locust Lake Road and Tuscarora is at 687 Tuscarora Park Road. Both are six miles from each other in Barnesville.